Arm-board for intravenous injections



March 29, 1966 E. G. JACOBY, SR

ARM-BOARD FOR INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS Filed July 24, 1963 INVENTOR. EDWARD 3. JACOBY, 5R.

ATTORNEY United States Patent ARM-BOARD FOR INTRAVENQUS INJECTIGNS Edward G. Jacoby, Sr., St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Central States Paper & Bag Company, St. Louis, Mo., 21 corporation of Missouri Filed duty 24, 1963, Ser. No. 297,281 4 (Jlaims. (Cl. 128-214) This invention relates in general to surgical devices,

and, more particularly, to an arm rest for supporting the arm of a patient in immobile position during the administration of intravenous injections.

- In the administration of intravenous injections, it is a conventional practice to tape or strap the arm of a patient upon an elongated rectangular panel made of stainless steel, hard-board, or similar material. Usually such devices are supported from the floor beside a surgical operating table or hospital bed by means of a small stand which is either-attached directly to the operating table or hospital bed by means of a bracket or is provided with an independent pedestal. The arm rest itself is, of course, hard, rigid, and unyielding with the result that the patient invariably becomes'quite uncomfortable during the extended period in which the intravenous injection is being administered and, moreover, in many cases the patients arm becomes bruised as a result of continuous contact with a hard surface. Another closely related problem arises in connection with the cleansing and sterilizing of arm rests after each period of use. It is current practice to scrub conventional arm rests in some germicidal solution, but this procedure inevitably damages the surface appearance of the arm board after relatively small number of scrubbings. In addition, it is usual practice in hospitals to drape an arm board with a sterile towel or piece of sterilized sheeting, and this procedure is not only timeconsuming, but unnecessarily expensive. Moreover, rigid arm boards are relatively bulky and, therefore, ditficult to store when not in use.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a novel type of arm board which is simple and economical in construction and, when not in use, can be reduced to compact size so that it can be easily stored or carried about.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an arm board of the type stated which is sufiiciently rigid, when in use, to support and immobilize the arm of a patient, but, is, nevertheless, sutiiciently yielding or pillow-like in character so as to avoid discomfort to the patient.

It isan additional object of the present invention to provide an arm supporting structure for use in the administration of intravenous injections which comprises the combination of an arm board and an inexpensive disposable sleeve-like sanitary cover which can be discarded after use.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an arm rest -combination of the type stated in which the disposable sleeve can be quickly slipped over the arm board structure and then engaged thereby with sufilcient firmness so that the sleeve will not slip or slide when the device is in use.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away and in section, of an arm board constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the arm board;

. 3,242,923 Patented Mar. 29, 1966 FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sanitary disposable sleeve used in conjuncion with and forming a part of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken alongline 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the combined arm rest structure shown' in actual use, for supporting and immobilizing the arm of a patient during the administration of an intravenous injection.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings which illustrate practical'embodiments of the present invention, A designates an arm board preferably comprising two identically shaped thermo sheets 1, 2, are, furthermore, provided, interiorly of their margins, with two longitudinally extending spaced parallel heat-seams 4, 5, which subdivide the interiorof the armboard A into three longitudinally extending sections 6, "7, 8, which are cross-connected at their upper ends by transverse sections 9, 10. As may 'be seen by reference to FIG. 1, the heat-seams 4, 5, are provided at their ends with enlarged circular portions having concentric dots d which serve to reinforce the ends of the heat-seams 4,5, and also 'to provide improved air-flow between the several sections.

Heat sealed within the sheet 2, preferably in the region of the transverse section 9, is a conventional air valve" 11, preferably of the type which includes a manually rotatable ferrule which can be turnedfrom open to closed position by axial twisting movement. This type of valve is conventionally used in connect-ion with air-inflatable devices and'is, therefore, not specifically shown or described herein. It is sulficient for present purposes merely to note that the air valve 11 is optionally provided with a short length of flexible tubing which serves 'as a removable mouth piece 12 so that the arm-board A can be inflated for use.

Provided for cooperation with the arm-board A is a disposable sleeve B formed of heavy-gauge soft-textured paper formed as an elongated rectilinear open-ended tube preferably having a single longitudinal center seam s. The sleeve B is of substantially the same size and shape as the arm-board A when the latter is inflated. Actually, the relative dimensions for the arm-board A and the disposable sleeve B are such that the arm-board A may be partially inflated and the sleeve B loosely slipped thereover in a quick and convenient manner. Thereupon, the arm-board A is further inflated to its final-position in which it will be of such size asto' snugly'engage the sleeve B with sufiicient tightness to prevent the latterfrom shiftmg or sliding during use. Since the arm-board A is fabricated from heavy gauge thermoplastic sheeting, it will not expand like a rubber balloon until it bursts under continued inflation, but rather will inflate to a predetermined size and hold a predetermined shape. Of course, under the application of unduly excessive pressure it may be possible to burst the arm-board A, but the differential between inflating pressure and bursting pressure is sufiiciently great so that any person using ordinary lung pressure will immediately sense when the proper degree of inllation has been reached and thereby avoid over-inflation. As a matter of fact, the disposable sleeve B, when applied to the arm-board A in the manner above described, serves the additional function of insuring against over-inflation because the paper of the sleeve B will begin to tear apart well before a dangerous degree of over-inflation has occurred in case the user is unusually strong-lunged or exceptionally careless.

In use, the arm board A is stored and. transported in fully" deflated or fiat condition When being prepared for use, the valve stem is twisted to open position and the month. piece 12 is placedv between the lips. Ther upon, air is blown into the interior oi the arm-board A until: it is. fiairly well inflated. 'A fresh unused sleeve B' is slipped externally over and around the arm-board A and positioned with respect thereto so that the armboard A is substantially covered: from end toend. Thereupon, the sarm board is additionally inflated until the sleeve B isengaged snugly land firmly. It will, of course, be understood that the val'veIl can be temporarily closed between partial. and complete inflation as a matter of manual. convenience in slipping the sleeve B in place. Inasmuch as the arm-board A. is. relatively light in weight, it is also possible to. retain the. mouth. piece 12' between the lips, and by the application of a moderate amount oi lip pressure,.squeeze the mouthpiece L2 shut in order to hold the armvbo'ard A in partially inflated condition while slipping the sleeve B into place. It will, of con se, be understood-that when the amt-board A- is fully inflated,the valve 11 is twisted or'turned into fully closed position.

When thus prepared for use, the arm-board A, encased within the sanitary sleeve B, can be placed upon a bedsidetable or any other convenient supporting structure in accordance with conventional practice and the patients arm secured thereto in. the manner shown in FIG. 5. This is ordinarily accomplished by Wrapping several turns of relatively wide adhesive tape around both the armboard structure and the patients arm. Some nurses and physicians prefer to bind the patients arm to the armhoard structure bymeans. of. several wrappings of band-age which is then tied or tapedin place. Once the patients arm has been secu-reds in outstretched position, the intnavenous needle can be inserted into a vein and taped to the patients arm, also. as shown in FIG. 5. The arm boardA by reason of its pillow-like characteristics, is sufficiently soft and yielding to provide complete comfort for the patients arm while at the same time holding the arm in. immobile position.

Upon completion of the intravenous injection, the needle will be removed from the. patients arm and the adhesive tape or gauze bandage strapping-s severed with a surgical scissors or otherwise suitably detached from the patients arm. Thereupon, the arm-board A can be deflated and the sleeve B- quickly removed leaving the arm-board A clean and sanitary. Of course, most users will probably wipe the surfaces of the arm-board A with a clean damp cloth as a matter of additional sanitary precaution, but this can be done very quickly and effectively as the arm-board A is being pressed flat and completely deflated for compact storage until the next occasion of use.

If: desired, the paper sleeve B can be made out of paper stock which is either coated or impregnated with a surface-contact germicide such as hexachlorophcne or a quaternary ammonium halide, It should also be noted in this connection that the sleeve B can, if desired, he slipped loosely over the completely deflated arm-board A so that the armcard A can be inflated in a single step, prior to use. Actually, the procedure of slipping the sleeve B on the arm-board A when completely deflated or when partially inflated is a matter of convenience and choice.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the arm-board for intravenous injections may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, means for supporting the arm of a patient during intravenous therapy, comprising an inflatable envelope having rigid. peripheral frame means disposed internally around the pcrimetral margin thereof for permanently defining the peripheral shape thereof when inflated, and an open-ended disposable sanitary sleeve snugly disposed around the envelope having a cross-sectional shape larger than the initial crosssectional shape of the envelope when the latter is not inflated so that the sleeve can be slippedv easily and loosely over the envelope prior to complete inflation, the cross-sectional size of the sleeve, further being such that the sleeve will be firmly engaged with the envelope when the latter is fully inflated and held against shifting move ment with respect to the fully inflated envelope by reason of frictional engagement therewith.

2. Means for supporting the arm of a patient during intravenous therapy and the like comprising the combination according to claim 1 in which the sleeve is made of paper.

3. Means for supporting the arm of a patient during intravenous therapy and the like comprising the combination according to claim 1 in which the sleeve is made of paper having a germicidal surface.

4. Means for supporting the arm of a patient during intravenous therapy and the like comprising the combination according to claim 1 in which the sleeve is made of a material treated with a germicidal agent of the class consisting of hexachlorophene and quaternary ammonium halides.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,051,850 1/1913 Sandmark 128-344 2,634,229 4/1953 De West 128-284 X 2,643,969 6/1953 Mahon 128-284 X 2,651,302 9/1953 Berry 12887' 2,763,264 9/1956 Mclnnerny 128214 3,056,980 10/1962 Holladay- 9-310 3,059,636 10/1962 ohwartz 128133 3,075,522 1/1963 Cullen ct a1. 128-87 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,121,162 4/1956 France.

594,839 11/1947 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE ARM OF A PATIENT DURING INTRAVENOUS THERAPY, COMPRISING AN INFLATABLE ENVELOPE HAVING RIGID PERIPHERAL FRAME MEANS DISPOSED INTERNALLY AROUND THE PERIMETRAL MARGIN THEREOF FOR PERMANENTLY DEFINING THE PERIPHERAL SHAPE THEREOF WHEN INFLATED, AND AN OPEN-ENDED DISPOSABLE SANITARY SLEEVE SNUGLY DISPOSED AROUND THE ENVELOPE HAVING A CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE LARGER THAN THE INITIAL CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE OF THE ENVELOPE WHEN THE LATTER IS NOT INFLATED SO THAT THE SLEEVE CAN BE SLIPPED EASILY AND LOOSELY OVER THE ENVELOPE PRIOR TO COMPLETE INFLATION, THE CROSS-SECTIONAL SIZE OF THE SLEEVE, FURTHER BEING SUCH THAT THE SLEEVE WILL BE FIRMLY ENGAGED WITH THE ENVELOPE WHEN THE LATTER IS FULLY INFLATED AND HELD AGAINST SHFITING MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE FULLY INFLATED ENVELOPE BY REASON OF FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH. 